481 
.G3 
V6 


George  IV ashitigton  Flowers 
Memorial  Collection 

DUKE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


ESTABLISHED  BY  THE 
FAMILY  OF 
COLONEL  FLOWERS 


Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2015 

https://archive.org/details/vermontmonuments01verm 


VERMONT  MONUMENTS  AT  GETTYSBURG 

_ii  

REPORT 

OF  THE 

VERMONT  COMMISSIONERS 

'  i89o 

INCLUDING  THE  SPEECHES  AND  POEM 
AT  THE  DEDICATION, 
OCT.  9,  1889 


BURLINGTON  : 
THE  FREE  PRESS  ASSOCIATION 
1 89o 


EEPOrvT  OF  THE  ('O.ArMISSlOXERS. 


To  Ills  ExceUency.  the  Governor  : 

The  Commissioners  to  build  Monuments  to  Vermont  valor  at 
Gettysburg,  apj^ointed  under  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
in  1880.  and  continued  in  office  by  the  act  of  1888,  respectfully 
rej^ort  that  the  work  entrusted  to  them  was  substantially  com- 
pleted in  the  autumn  of  1889,  and  the  five  monuments  erected 
under  their  supervision  were  publicly  dedicated  on  the  9th  day 
of  October,  1889  :  and  the  future  charge  thereof  was  at  that  time 
accepted  by  the  Gettysburg  Battle-fi-cld  Memorial  Association. 

It  may  be  said  without  boastfulness.  because  such  is  the  uni- 
form testimony  of  visitors  to  (iettyslmrg  and  of  the  newspapers  in 
different  states,  that  the  Vermont  monuments  compare  favorably 
with  any  of  the  more  than  two  hundred  monuuients  now  standing 
ui^on  that  field,  although  many  others  cost  more  money:  and  as  a 
whole  they  fittingly  commemorate  the  unsurpassed  valor  and  fidel- 
ity of  the  troops  from  this  State  upon  that  field  and  other  fields  of 
the  Civil  AVar. 

In  this  final  report,  therefore,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  embrace, 
with  an  account  of  the  ceremonies  and  utterances  attending  the 
dedication, 

A  BKIEE  HISTORY 

Of  the  inception  and  progress  of  the  enterprise. 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  at  the  October  session 
in  1886,  Governor  Ormsbee  referred  to  the  movement  in  several 
states  to  make  Gettysburg  the  momimcntal  field  of  the  war,  by 
reason  of  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  tlie  battle  as  well  as 
of  the  ease  with  which  the  field  can  be  visited  by  multitudes,  and 


—  4  — 


after  speaking  of  the  prominent  part  taken  in  tlie  battle  by  tiie 
volunteers  from  this  State,  he  concliulecl  as  follows  : 

"I  recommend  that  liberal  provision  be  made  for  the  early  erec- 
'^tion  of  a  suitable  monument  on  the  battle-field  of  Gettysburg,  to 
"'^mark  the  s^iot  where  the  soldiers  of  Vermont  rendered  such  signal 
^  ^service  to  State  and  K'ation,  that  it  may  not  become  a  matter  of 
^^doubt^  and  to  commemorate  and  perpetuate  their  patriotism  and 
valor.'' 

In  pursuance  of  this  recommendation  an  act  was  passed,  at 
that  session,,  appropriating  12,500  for  the  purchase  of  sites  upon  the 
battle-field  and  for  kindred  purposes,  (to  include,  also,  the  ex^^enses 
of  the  commission)  and  the  further  sum  of  16,500  was  appropriated 
for  monuments.  The  commission,  of  which  the  act  made  the  Gov- 
ernor a  member,  was  appointed  by  an  executive  order  dated  Decem- 
ber 18,  188G,  as  follows  : 

THE  COMMISSION. 

Ebenezer  J.  Ormsbee,  Brandon,  Governor  of  Vermont. 
James  H.  AValbridge,  North  Bennington,  Second  Eegiment. 
Thomas  0.  Seaver,  Woodstock,  Third  Eegiment. 
Erench  F.  Carrick,  St.  Johnsbury,  Fourth  Regiment. 
Cornelius  H.  Forbes,  Brandon,  Fifth  Regiment. 
Thos.  B.  Kennedy,  Fairfield,  Sixth  Regiment. 
Geo.  Grenville  Benedict,  Burlington,  Twelfth  Regiment. 
Albert  Clarke,  Rutland,  Thirteenth  Regiment. 
Noble  F.  Dunshee,  Bristol,  Fourteenth  Regiment. 
Redfield  Proctor,  Proctor,  Fifteenth  Regiment. 
Wheelock  G.  Veazey,  Rutland,  Sixteenth  Regiment. 
William  Wells,  Burlington,  First  Regiment  of  Cavalry. 
Cassius  Peck,  Brookfield,  Co.  F,  First  U.  S.  Sharpshooters. 
Homer  R.  Stoughton,  Slielby  Iron  Works,  Ala.,  Co.  E,  Second  U. 
S.  Sharpshooters. 


Curtis  Abbott.  Boston,  :\Iass.,  Co.  H,  Second  l\  S.  Sharpshooters. 

Edward  H.  Eipley^  ]\Iendon,  for  tlie  State  at  hirge. 

Fred  E.  Smith,  Montpelier,  for  the  State  at  hirge. 

E.  Stewart  Stranahan.  St.  Albans,  for  the  State  at  krge. 

The  Commission  met  in  Piuthmd  on  the  3Uth  day  of  December 
and  organized  by  choosing  Governor  Ormsbee.  chairman,  and  Albert 
Clarke,  secretary. 

USES  OF  THE  FUXDS. 

After  visiting  the  field  the  Commissioners  decided,  in  view  of 
the  inadequacy  of  the  fund  to  erect  separate  memorials  for  each  of 
the  eleven  Vermont  regiments  and  three  detached  companies  from 
this  State,  engaged  in  the  battle,  that  as  the  Vermont  troops  were 
in  five  bodies,  there  should  be  one  State  monument  to  commemorate 
them  all.  to  stand  on  a  conspicuous  spot  in  the  central  position  held 
by  the  Second  Brigade,  and  four  smaller  monuments  to  mark  the 
positions  of  the  other  organizations.  This  plan  was  carried  into 
execution,  and  with  very  general  satisfaction  among  the  survivors 
of  the  fourteen  organizations. 

The  Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial  Association,  being  a 
chartered  and  permanent  organization,  had  already  secured  loca- 
tions and  opened  roads  along  most  of  the  positioiis  lield  by  the 
Union  troops.  They  were  (and  are  still)  extending  their  posses- 
sions and  improvements  as  fast  as  their  means  would  permit.  All 
the  states  which  had  made  appropriations  for  sites  for  monuments 
had,  after  investigation,  turned  over  the  money  to  that  Association. 
The  Commission  paid  the  Association  61,500,  and  took  from  it  an 
agreement,  which  is  published  in  the  Report  of  1888.  to  secure  anv 
sites  needed,  not  already  owned  by  the  Association,  and  also  to 
open  and  maintain  roads  to  the  same  and  to  care  for  the  monuments 
perpetually. 

After  obtaining  plans  and  submitting  them  to  contractors  for 
proposals,  it  became  obvious  that  the  fund  Avas  still  insufficient  for 


—  6  — 


monuments  that  would  compare  well  with  those  of  other  states,  aud- 
it was  decided  to  supplement  it,  by  accepting  such  aid  as  might  be 
tendered  by  patriotic  and  generous  citizens.  Contributions  in  money 
amounting  to  13,188.50,  and  contributions  in  designs,  material  and 
labor,  stated  at  1750.00,  were  made  by  private  persons  and  gladly 
acce2:>ted  by  the  Commission.  A  list  of  the  donors  appears  in  the 
appendix.  There  were,  however,  unavoidable  delays  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  work,  and  meanwhile  there  had  been  such  improvement 
in  the  monuments  erected  at  Gettysburg  by  other  states,  that  pub- 
lic opinion  and  the  judgment  of  the  Commissioners  coincided  in  the 
adoption  of  plans  which  required  more  money  still.  The  facts  and 
designs  were  submitted  to  the  General  Assembly  of  1888,  and  Gov- 
ernor Ormsbee,  in  his  retiring  message,  said: 

"  By  an  examination  of  tlie  design  [for  the  State  monument]  you 
"  will  see  that  it  would  be  a  much  more  perfect  whole  if  surmounted 
"by  a  figure  or  statue,  and  there  has  been  a  very  general  expression 
"from  many  sources  that  this  work  might  be  crowned  by  a  statue  of 
"the  late  Gen.  George  J.  Stannard.  This  would  indeed  be  a  most 
"fitting  and  grateful  finish  to  this  work  of  art  and  memorial  of  the 
"State  to  her  soldier  sons. 

"The  work  of  the  Commission,  in  reference  to  the  four  other 
"monuments  which  it  decided  to  erect  upon  the  field,  is  going  for- 
"  ward.  To  complete  the  work,  including  the  statae  as  suggested, 
"  will  require  in  the  aggregate  about  18,000.  I  earnestly  recommend 
"that  you  take  such  measures  as  will  accord  with  the  proverbial 
"  patriotism  of  our  people,  and  enable  the  Commission  to  finish  this 
"  work  as  well  and  completely  as  our  soldiers  did  theirs." 

Governor  Dillingham  cordially  concurred  in  this  recommenda- 
tion. The  Legislature  made  the  api^ropriation  as  recommended, 
and  added  11,000  to  the  amount,  towards  defraying  the  expenses  of 
a  suitable  dedication. 


THE  STATE  MONUMENT  AND  STxiNNAED  STATUE. 


Ill  pursuance  of  this  new  legislation,  the  Commissioners  invited 
the  submission  of  designs  and  proposals  for  a  bronze  statue  of  Gen- 
eral Stannard.  Five  artists,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  pre- 
sented designs  for  this  statue,  or  specimens  of  their  work,  and 
proposals  were  received  from  several  bronze  founders  for  the  casting. 

The  Commissioners  l^ecame  favorablv  impressed  with  the  work 
of  Mr.  Karl  G-erhardt,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  whose  equestrian  statue 
of  Gen.  Israel  Putnam,  at  Brookh^n,  Conn.,  and  statues  of  Josiah 
Bartlett  at  Amesbur}-,  Mass.,  and  of  Gen.  AVarren,  on  Little 
Kound  To})  at  Gettysburg,  had  successfully  passed  the  ordeal  of 
high  criticism  and  secured  for  the  young  scul^^ttor  valuable  orders 
from  other  cities  and  states  ;  and  as  he  also  made  the  most  satis- 
factory pro2)osal  for  the  model  and  bronze  casting,  a  contract  was 
closed  with  him  on  the  31st  day  of  January,  1889.  To  make  a 
heroic  portrait  statue  for  a  monument  55  feet  in  height  was  a  difficult 
task,  and  the  difficulty  was  increased  by  the  fact  that  no  good  pro- 
file photograph  of  the  deceased  General  could  be  found.  Members 
of  the  Commission  inspected  the  work  several  times  during  the 
progress  of  modeling  the  statue,  and  finally  a  plaster  cast  of  the 
head  was  taken  by  the  artist  to  Burlington  and  shown  to  Mrs. 
Stannard  and  her  daughters,  who  pronounced  it  an  excellent  por- 
trait. 

It  is  well  known  that  General  Stannard  did  not  lose  his  right 
arm  until  some  time  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  :  *  but  as  this 
statue  was  designed  to  commemorate  valor  and  typify  sacrifice  in 
the  war  as  a  whole,  it  was  thought  proper  that  the  figure  should 
be  represented  with  an  empty  sleeve,  as  the  hero  appeared  at  the 
close  of  the  war. 


*Gen.  Stannard  lost  his  right  arm  at  Fort  Harrison,  Va.,  September 
30,  1864. 


—  8  — 


The  statue  was  cast  by  the  Henry  Bonnard  Bronze  Oompauy^  of 
New  York,  and  was  inspected  at  their  works  and  accepted  after 
they  had  phiced  it  upon  the  monnment. 

As  was  anticipated,  it  adds  finish  and  impressiveness  to  a 
beautiful  structure,  and  tlie  monument,  as  a  whole,  is  the  most 
classic,  stately  and  commanding  object  on  that  portion  of  the  field, 
if  not  upon  the  entire  field.  The  Commissioners  congratulate  the 
State  upon  the  good  fortune  which  attended  their  contracts,  through 
which  the  work  was  well  executed  at  a  cost  far  below  the  estimates 
of  many  good  judges  of  such  work,  who  have  viewed  the  finished 
structure. 

THE  FIRST  BRIGADE  MONUMENT. 

The  figure  of  a  lion,  Avhich  symbolizes  the  character  of  the 
old  First  Brigade,  was  given  a  pose  and  exjoression  by  the  artist, 
Mr.  C.  W.  Reed,  of  Boston,  which  almost  tells  tlie  story  of  the 
brigade's  protection  of  the  left  flank  of  the  army  from  an  ex- 
pected attack,  and  shows  its  alertness  and  anxiety  within  hearing 
and  easy  reach  of  the  terrific  conflict  of  the  third  day  of  the  battle, 
at  its  right  and  rear.  No  little  difficulty  was  experienced  in  find- 
ing a  sculptor  capable  of  modeling  this  ex^^ressive  figure,  and  will- 
ing to  do  it  for  such  a  sum  as  the  Commissioners  could  pay.  A 
modeler  from  Rome  undertook  it  and  failed.  Finally  two  young- 
artists  of  Boston,  Mr.  Herbert  Vi.  Beattie  and  Mr.  Richard  E. 
Brooks,  who  had  recently  returned  from  their  studies  in  Europe, 
successfully  performed  the  task  at  their  studio  in  South  Quincy, 
Mass.  Their  model  was  not  only  faithful  to  the  design,  but  it 
developed  the  anatomy  of  the  figure  much  in  the  style  of  Barye, 
whose  animal  sculpture  is  such  a  striking  feature  of  modern 
French  art.  It  was  seen  by  the  critics  and  praised  by  nearly  all  the 
Boston  newspapers,  several  of  which  devoted  considerable  space  to 
descriiDtions  of  it,  and  to  the  story  which  it  was  intended  to  tell. 
One  of  these  notices  is  given  in  the  Appendix. 


Tlie  model  was  reproduced  iu  liglit  Dummerston  granite  by 
Wallace  aud  AMlIis  Carrick.  twin  In'otliers,  and  members  of  the 
contracting  compan}^  at  St.  Jolnisbnry.  some  of  whose  granite  stat- 
uary had  already  attracted  attention,  notwithstanding  their  youth. 
They  are  entitled  to  a  share  of  the  credit  for  executing  a  work  which 
has  prominent  mention  in  the  guide  books  of  G-ettysburg  and  is 
spoken  of  by  critics  as  one  of  the  few  genuine  works  of  art  upon  the 
field. 

THE  CAVALEY  MOXU.MEXT. 

By  request  of  members  of  the  Commission  who  served  in  the 
First  Vermont  Cavalry,  the  sum  of  -SI. 000  was  turned  over  to  the 
Vermont  Cavalry  Eeunion  Society,  which  prepared  its  own  designs 
and  contracted  for  the  Cavalry  Monument.  This  is  a  massive 
rectangular  block  of  Barre  granite,  resting  on  a  base  of  cut  and 
rock-faced  stone,  and  surmounted  by  a  capstone  bearing  in  front 
the  badge  of  Sheridan's  Cavalry  Corps,  and  on  the  opposite  face  a 
medallion  with  crossed  sabre  and  car]3ine.  The  monument  marks 
the  position  where  the  cliarging  squadrons  encountered  a  most 
destructive  converging  fire,  and  near  which  their  gallant  leader  in 
the  charge,  Gen.  Farnsworth.  was  killed.  It  has  been  and  still  is  in 
contemplation  by  the  survivors  of  Farnsworth 's  In'igade.  to  erect  a 
Cavalry  Brigade  Monnment  on  the  line  from  which  these  heroic 
troopers  made  their  famons  charge. 

THE  SHAEPSHOOTEE  MONHMEXTS. 

The  monnment  to  Company  F,  First  Eegiment  U.  S.  Sharp- 
shooters, has  the  distinction  of  l^eing  the  only  white  marble  monu- 
ment on  the  field — the  Battlefield  Memorial  Associatioii  having 
made  an  exception  to  its  rule  requiring  monuments  to  be  of  either 
granite  or  bronze,  on  acconnt  of  the  excellent  quality  of  the  Eut- 
land  marble.  This  monument  stands  to  the  west  of  the  Emmitts- 
bnrg  road,  and  is  mnch  visited  and  admired,  not  only  for  its  intrinsic 


—  10  — 


beauty^  but  because  its  position,  far  in  advance  of  the  Union  line, 
indicates  service  of  especial  danger  and  distinction.  Not  less  notice- 
able is  the  massive  granite  monolith,  rising  from  a  base  of  the  same 
material,  which  conmiemorates  the  service  of  Companies  E.  and  H. 
of  the  Second  IT.  S.  Sharpshooters.  The  hornet's  nest,  in  has 
relief  upon  its  front,  is  a  unique  feature  and  has  given  the  monu- 
ment a  name  which  causes  it  to  be  much  visited.  It  recalls  the 
story  of  the  gallant  stand  made  by  this  handful  of  men  against  the 
overwhelming  advance  of  Law's  brigade,  an  officer  of  which 
reported  that  they  there  ''encountered  a  perfect  hornet's  nest  of 
sharpshooters."  The  monument  stands  upon  the  Slyder  farm, 
near  the  opening  of  the  gorge  of  tlie  "Devil's  Den.'' 

THE  MONUMEJ^TS  AS  A  WHOLE 

Mark  all  the  important  positions  held  by  Vermont  troops  in  the 
battle  ;  and  the  inscrijjtions,  while  necessarily  limited  by  space  and 
the  rigid  rules  of  the  Battlefield  Memorial  Association  to  the  simple 
facts  of  history  without  a  word  of  praise,  indicate  the  proud  dis- 
tinction attained  by  the  soldiers  of  Vermont  at  Gettysburg,  and  on 
so  many  other  fields.  The  utmost  care  was  taken  in  the  prepara- 
tion, arrangement  and  cutting  of  these  inscri23tions,  and  they  are 
believed  to  be  free  from  errors  of  any  kind.  Being  ''the  abstract 
and  brief  chronicle"  of  great  events,  they  are  here  published  in  con- 
nection with  cuts  of  the  monuments,  and  no  doubt  they  will  be 
treasured  in  many  a  Vermont  liome. 


—  11  — 


FINANCIAL  STATEMENT. 


RECEIPTS  : 

Appropriations  of  1886   8  9,000  00 

"  1888   9,000  00 

Contributions...    3,913  50 

Interest  on  Deposits   133  10 

$22,046  60 

EXPENDITURES  : 

Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial  Association   S  1.500  00 

State  Monument  and  Statue     11.750  00 

First  Brigade  Monument   1,303  00 

Cavalry  Monument  (paid  Cavalry  Association)   1,000  00 

Company  F.  1st  U.  S.  Sharpshooters'  Monument   1,200  00 

Companies  E.  and  H..  2nd  U.  S.  S.  Monument.    800  00 

Drawings,  Photographs  and  Plates...   347  10 

Telegraphing,  Express,  Postage  and  Stationery,  Secretary's 

Office   39  86 

Stenographers   104  85 

Advertising  and  Papers  ...   6  75 

Services  of  Secretary   200  00 

Travelling  and  incidental  Expenses  of  Commissioners   1,140  98 

Expenses  of  Dedication  ..  1.027  93 

Cost  of  Printing  and  Distributing  Reports   258  10 


$20,678  57 


—  12  — 


A  RECOMMEl^DATION. 

Thus,  after  all  bills  were  paid,  inclusive  of  the  printing  of  this 
Report,  the  sum  of  11,368.03  was  left  in  the  hands  of  the  Com- 
mission, and  has  been  turned  over  to  the  State  Treasurer. 

Application  was  made  to  the  Commission  last  year  for  a  further 
grant  to  the  Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial  Association.  It  was 
urged  in  behalf  of  that  Association  that  it  has  incurred  large  expense 
in  opening  roads  to  the  sites  of  three  of  the  Vermont  monuments  ; 
and  that  Vermont's  contribution  of  11,500  was  smaller  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  its  organizations  engaged  in  the  battle  than 
those  of  other  States.  It  was  also  represented  that  the  Association 
will  soon  erect  a  magnificent  bronze  memorial  at  what  is  known  as 
^'the  high-Avater  mark''  of  the  battle,  bearing  a  record  of  the  action 
of  the  organizations  which  repulsed  Pickett's  charge,  in  which 
three  of  Vermont's  regiments  will  have  a  place.  For  this  special 
object  liberal  appropriations  have  already  been  made  by  most  of  the 
States  whose  troops  were  there  engaged.  In  view  of  the  needs  of 
the  Battlefield  Memorial  Association,  of  the  great  work  it  has  done 
and  is  doing,  of  the  future  care  of  the  monuments  to  which  it  is 
pledged,  and  of  the  evident  justice  of  the  claim  above  stated,  it 
was  unanimously  voted  by  the  Commissioners  at  their  last  meeting 
to  recommend  to  the  Legislature  to  grant  to  said  Association  11,000 
of  this  surplus  fund. 


IX  coxcLrsiox, 

The  Commissioners  wisli  to  express  tlieir  gratitude  for  tlie  cordial 
and  generous  support  which  tliey  liave  received  from  the  Legishi- 
ture  and  people  of  A'ermont  and  the  contributors  to  their  fund  :  for 
the  co-oporation  of  the  Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial  Associa- 
tion :  and  for  hospitable  greetings  from  the  authorities  and  people 
of  G-ettYsburg  and  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 

By  authority  of  tlie  Commission. 

EBEXEZER  J.  OEAISBEE.  Chrnrman. 

ALBERT  CLARKE.  Serrttary, 

^Montpelier,  Oct.  '^u,  1S90. 


—  15  — 


Inscriptions  on  the  State  Monuments, 
(west  face) 
[STATE  COAT  OF  ARMS.] 

A^ERMOXT 
IN  HONOR  OF  HER  SONS 
WHO  FOUGHT  ON  THIS  FIELD. 


(NORTH  FACE) 

FIRST  VERMONT  BRIGADE  : 
SECOND.  THIRD.  FOURTH.  FIFTH 
AND  SIXTH  REGIMENTS. 
BRIG.  GEN.  L  A.  GRANT.  COMMANDING: 
SECOND  BRIGADE.  SECOND  DIVISION.  SIXTH  CORPS. 

The  Brigade  reached  the  field 
NEAR  Little  Round  Top  in  the  afternoon 
OF  July  2,  1863,  by  a  forced  march  of 

thirty-two  miles,  and  soon  after 
was  assigned  to  the  left  union  flank, 
where  it  held  a  line  from  the  summit  of 
Round  Top  to  the  Taneytown  Road 
until  the  close  of  the  battle. 

(east  face) 
SECOND  VERMONT  BRIGADE : 
TWELFTH.  THIRTEENTH.  FOURTEENTH. 
FIFTEENTH  AND  SIXTEENTH  REGIMENTS  : 
BRIG.  GEN.  GEORGE  J.  STANNARD.  COMMANDING  : 
THIRD  BRIGADE,  THIRD  DIVISION,  FIRST  CORPS. 

The  Brigade  arrived  on  Cemetery  Hill,  July,  1863.  The  Twelfth  and 
Fifteenth  Regiments  were  detached  to  guard  the  Corps  trains.  About  sun- 
set. July  2,  the  Thirteenth,  Fourteenth  and  Sixteenth  moved  to  this  part  of 
the  field,  re-took  Battery  C,  Fifth  U.  S.,  and  re-established  the  Union  line. 

July  3,  these  Regiments  held  the  front  line  in  advance  of  this  spot.  In 
the  crisis  of  the  day,  the  Thirteenth  and  Sixteenth  changed  front,  and  ad- 
vancing 200  yards  to  the  right,  assaulted  the  tiank  of  Pickett's  Division. 
The  Sixteenth  then  moved  back  400  yards  to  the  left  and  charged  the  flank 
of  Wilcox's  and  Perry's  Brigades.  The  Fourteenth  supported  these  charges. 
The  Brigade  captured  three  flags  and  many  prisoners. 


(SOUTH  FACE) 

FIRST  VERMONT  CAVALRY : 
FIRST  BRIGADE,  THIRD  DIVISION,  CAVALRY  CORPS. 


This  Regiment  fought  Stuart's  Cavalry  at 
Hanover,  June  30,  1863,  opposed  Hampton's  Cavalry 
at  hunterstown,  july  2,  and  charged  through  the 
First  Texas  Infantry  and  upon  the  line  of  Law's 
Brigade  at  the  foot  of  Round  Top,  July  3. 

VERMONT  SHARPSHOOTERS  : 
CO.  F.  FIRST  U.  S.  S.:  CO'S  E  AND  H.  SECOND  U.  S.  S.: 
SECOND  BRIGADE,  FIRST  DIVISION,  THIRD  CORPS. 


July  2.  Company  F  aided  in  checking  the  advance 
OF  AViLcox's  Brigade  west  of  Seminary  Ridge. 

Companies  E  and  H  resisted  Law's  Brigade 
west  of  Devil's  Den  and  upon  the  Round  Tops. 
July  3,  the  three  companies  took  part 
in  the  repulse  of  Pickett's  charge. 


—  16  — 


—  17  — 


INSCRIPTIOXS  ON  THE  MONUMENT  TO  THE  FiRST  BRIGADE  : 
(RIGHT  SIDE) 

FIRST  VERMO>'T  BRIGADE  : 
SECOND.  THIRD.  FOURTH.  FIFTH  AND  SIXTH  REGIMENTS  : 
SECOND  BRIGADE.  SECOND  DIVISION.  SIXTH  CORES. 

Organized  in  the  summer  of  1861=  bv  Major  General  AVilJiam  F.  Smith, 
and  commanded  by  Brig.  Gen.  AV.  T.  H.  Brooks  and  Brig,  and  Brevet  Maj. 
Gen.  L.  A.  Grant,  this  Brigade  fought  in  whole  or  part  with  the  Army  of 
tlie  Potomac  from  the  First  Bull  Run  to  Appomattox.  Aggregating — 
including  the  Eleventh  regiment,  for  a  year  part  of  the  Brigade. — 11,137 
officers  and  men.  it  gave  :^.439  lives  to  the  Union  cause, 

Killed  and  mortally  wounded  in  action,  1128  :  died  of  disease  and  by 
accident.  1009  :  died  in  Confederate  prisons.  302:  woundeil.  not  mortallv. 
2265  :— total,  471)4. 

(LEFT  SIDEj 

Reaching  this  field,  by  a  forced  march  of  thirty-two  miles,  in  the  even- 
ing of  July  2d,  the  Brigade  took  position  on  the  lei't  Union  flank,  near  this 
point,  in  anticipation  of  an  attack  by  the  enemy,  and  held  the  same  July  3d 
and  4th. 


First  Bull  Run. 
Lee's  Mill. 
Williamsburg. 
GoLDiNG's  Farm. 
Savage's  Station. 
AVhite  Oak  Sv^'amp. 
Crampton's  Pass. 
Antietam. 

Fredericksburg.  Dec.  13,  '62 

Marye's  Heights. 

Sale^i  Heights. 

Fredericksburg.  June  o.  "63. 

Gettysburg. 

Funkstoavn. 


Rapphannock  Station. 

AVlLDERNESS. 

Spottsylvania. 
Cold  Harbor. 
Petersburg.  June  18.  "64. 
Ream's  Station. 
AVeldon  Railroad. 
Charlestown. 
Opequon. 
Fisher's  Hill. 
Cedar  Creek. 

Petersburg.  March  25.  '65. 
Petersburg.  April  2.  "65. 
Sailor's  Creek. 


—  IS  — 


-  19  — 


Inscriptions  on  Cavalry  MO'NOIent. 

FRONT  i 

FIRST  TEKMHXT  CAVALRY. 
FIRST  BRIGADE.  THIRD  DIVISION.  CAA'ALRY  CORPS. 


Entered  the  Ynited  States  service  Yov.  i9.  1^61.    Mustered  out 

AU't.  9.  1^65.     T'jOK  PART  IN  THE  BATTLES  '"'F  CtETTYSBURO.  AVilDERNESS. 

Y'ellov-  Tavern.  AVinchester.  Cedar  Creek.  AVaynsboeo.  Five  Fl-rks. 
AppomatT':'X  StatI':in.  and  67  uther  battles  and  engag-e^lents.  Aggre- 
gate. iiQT  officers  and  men.  Killed  and  mortally  wounded  in- 
action. Vy2  :  DIED  OF  disease  AND  BY  ACCIDENTS,  l^o  :  DIED  IN  CONFEDE- 
RATE PRISONS.  ITi  : — TOTAL.  397.     Total  avounded  in  action.  575. 


(  REAPv  i 

In  the  Gettysburg  campaign,  this  regiment  fought  Stuart's  cav- 
alry AT  HaN'jver.  Pa..  June  S'j.  and  at  HuntersT'jwn.  July  :2  :  and  on 
this  field.  July  8.  led  by  Gen.  El^jn  J.  Farnsw'jrth.  who  fell  near 
this  sp'jt.  charged  thruugh  the  First  Texas  Infantry  and  to  the 
line  of  LaWs  Brigade,  receiving  the  fire  oy  five  Confederate  regi- 

3iENTS  AND  TWij  BATTERIES.  AND  LOSING  67  MEN. 


—  21  — 


Inscriptions  on  Monument  to  Co.  F,  U.  S.  S. 

(FRONT) 

THE  STATE  OF 
VERMONT 
TO  THE  OFFICERS  AND  MEN  OF 
CO.  F. 

1st  U.  S.  SHARPSHOOTERS. 
2nd  BRIG.,  1st  DIV..  3rcl  CORPS. 


(right  face) 
Engaged  at  this  point  on  the  Morning 
OF  July  2,  1863  ; 
On  Cemetery  Ridge  at  2  o'clock 
p.  M.  July  3  :  on  the  Skirmish  Line 

NEAR  THE  PeaCH  ORCHARD.  JULY  4. 

Present  for  duty,  44 
Killed.  1 
AVounded,  4 


YORKTOWN. 

Hanover.  C.  H., 
Mechanicstille. 
Gaines"  Mill. 
Malvern  Hill. 
Second  Bull  Run 


(LEFT  face) 

CO.  F. 

FIRST  U.  S.  SHARPSHOOTERS. 
Organized  in  Vermont  in  1861  : 
Assigned  to  3d  Corps.  1862  : 
To  5th  Corps.  April.  18C2  : 
To  3d  Corps.  1863. 
And  to  2d  Corps.  1864. 


(REAR) 

BATTLES : 

Antietam.  AVilderness. 

Fredericksburg.  Todd's  Tavern, 

Chancellorsville,  Spottsylvania, 

Gettysburg.  Cold  Harbor. 

Kelly's  Ford,  Petersburg. 

Locust  Grove.  AVeldon  R.  R.. 
And  many  minor  Engagements. 

Total  Xu3Iber  of  men  Enlisted,  177. 
Killed,  3.2. 

Wounded,  45. 
Total.  77. 


—  23  — 


Inscriptions  on  Monument  to  Co."s  E  and  H.  U.  S.  S. 
(  front) 
COMPANIES  E  AND  H, 
SECOND  UNITED  STATES  SHARPSHOOTERS : 
SECOND  BRIGADE.  FIRST  DIVISION,  THIRD  CORPS. 


Arrived  on  the  field  July  1  at  6  p.  m.  July  2.  met  the  onset  of 
Longstreet's  Corps  near  this  point  and  helped  to  check  its  advance 
UPON  Round  Top.  July  3,  reinforced  the  front  lines  in  the  repulse 
OF  Pickett's  assault  ;  July  4,  skirmished  all  day  along  the  Emmitts- 

BURG  ROAD. 

Number  engaged,  48  ;  wounded.  9  :  captured,  6. 


(REAR) 

Organized  in  November  and  December,  1861,  and  aggregating  430 

OFFICERS   and   MEN,    THESE   COMPANIES   TOOK   PART   IN   THE   BATTLES  OF 

Orange  Court  House,  Rappahannock  Station,  Sulphur  Springs, 
Second  Bull  Run,  South  Mountain.  Antietam,  Fredericksburg,  Chan- 
cellorsville,  Gettysburg,  T^'APPING■s  Heights,  Auburn.  Ya.,  Kelly's 
Ford,  Brandy  Station,  Orange  Grove,  Mine  Run,  "Wilderness.  Po 
River,  Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  Totopotomoy,  Cold  Harbor,  Pe- 
tersburg, June  16,  '64,  Deep  Bottom.  Petersburg,  Sept.  10,  "64, 
BoYDTON  Plank  Road.  AVeldon  Railroad  and  Hatcher's  Run.  Con- 
solidated with  the  Fourth  Vermont,  Feb.  '2~).  1865.  these  co^ipanies 
served  with  that  regiment  to  the  close  of  the  war. 

Killed  and  mortally  wounded.  40  :  wounded,  90.  Mustered  out 
July,  1865. 


—  2i  — 


DEDICATION  OF  THE  MONUMENTS. 

The  monuments  were  dedicated  with  impressive  public  exer- 
cises on  Wednesday,  Oct.  9th,  1889.  Favorable  excursion  rates 
over  the  railroads  were  secured  by  the  Commission,  and  a  large 
number  of  the  veterans  and  citizens  of  Vermont  showed  their 
interest  in  the  occasion  by  taking  the  journey  from  Vermont  to 
Gettysburg.  On  the  8tli  a  special  train  of  thirteen  cars,  bearing- 
some  five  hundred  Vermonters,  left  Jersey  City  and  arrived  at 
Gettysburg  the  same  evening.  "  Vermont  Day^'  at  Gettys- 
burg opened  with  clear  skies  and  cool  air.  The  following  appoint- 
ments had  been  made  : 

Officers  of  the  Day  : 

President,  Ex-Gov.  E.  J.  Ormsbee,  Chairman  of  the  Vermont  Gettysburg 
Commission. 

Chaplain,  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Smart,  D.  D.,  of  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Marshal,  Colonel  Thomas  O.  Seaver  of  Woodstock. 

Assistant  Marshals,  Major  Cornelius  H.  Forbes,  Henry  O.  Clark. 

THE  PROCESSIOK. 

The  procession  was  formed  on  the  city  square  at  10  o'clock 
a.  m.,  and  moved  to  the  battlefield  in  the  following  order  : 

Marshal  and  Aids. 
Gettysburg  Grand  Army  Band. 
Vermont  Veterans  on  foot,  escorting  the  National  and  State  Officials  and 
guests. 

Governor  and  State  Ofiicers  of  Vermont,  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Staff 
Officers,  the  Orator  of  the  Day,  Chaplain,  Monument  Commissioners, 
Officers  of  the  Battlefield  Association,  Generals  who  commanded  Ver- 
mont troops  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  other  distinguished  guests, 
in  carriages. 

Citizens  on  foot. 

A  stand  suitably  decorated  with  the  national  colors  had  been 
erected  near  the  State  Monument,  u2:>on  Hancock  avenue.  The  die  of 
the  monument,  which  lifted  its  tall  and  graceful  shaft  high  into  the 
air  above,  bore  on  its  front  wreaths  of  laurel,  ivy  and  roses,  the 
gift  of  the  Vermont  Veterans'  Association  of  Boston.  Upon  the 
arrival  of  the  procession,  the  stand  was  occupied  by  Governor 


Dillingliam.  Secretarv  of  War  Eedfield  Proctor.  Senator  Edmtiiuls. 
Ex-CTOTeruors  Ormsbee  and  Barstow.  Jndge  AV.  (t.  Veazey  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Lieut.  Governor  U.  A.  Wood- 
bnry.  State  Treasnrer  W.  H.  Dubois.  Secretary  of  State  C.  AV. 
Porter.  State  Auditor  E.  H.  Powell.  Adjutant  General  T.  S.  Peck, 
Quartermaster  (reneral  W.  IL  (iilmore.  Hun.  J.  (i.  McCullougli, 
Gen.  AV.  Y.  AA'  Ripley,  C^en.  E.  IL  Pipley.  Prof.  J.  AV.  Churchill. 
two  of  the  daughters  of  Gen.  Stannard — ]^Irs.  AV.  L.  Stone  and  ]\Iiss 
Katharine  Stannard.  Col.  John  B.  Bachelder,  President  IL  AV. 
]\IcKnight  of  Pennsylvania  College,  Lieutemmts  (L  AA'.  llcioker  and 
G.  G.  Benedict  of  Gen.  Stannard's  Statf.  and  (jthcr  prominent 
citizens.  The  Avives  of  many  of  the  gentlemen  named  were  also 
seated  upon  the  stand.  The  audience,  of  Vermonters  and  citizens 
of  other  States,  were  grouped  in  front. 

THE  PUBLIC  EXERCISES. 

President  Ormsbee  called  the  assemblage  to  order  and  the  Ex- 
ercises of  the  occasion  opened  with  an  appropriate  prayer  l)y  the 
Chaj)lain  of  the  day.  Rev.  Dr.  Smart. 

The  monuments  was  then  presented  to  the  Battlefield  Memo- 
rial Association.  l)y  (to v.  Dillingham. 

GOA^ERXOR  DILLIX(iHA]^["S  ADDRESS. 


G-entlenien  of  the  Getti/shurg  J)riffJf:feh:lJIeyn(jri<dAssociafio)i  : 

As  we  assemble  here  to-day.  and  in  the  afterlight  of  a  rpuirter 
century  consider  the  character  of  the  late  confiict  lietween  opposing 
sections  of  ottr  beloved  country,  and  remember  that  upon  this  field 
the  greatest  battle  of  the  war  was  fought,  in  the  result  of  which 
more  than  any  other,  interests  were  involved  afi'ecting  not  only  the 
integrity  of  ottr  L^nion  but  the  maintenance  of  free  institutions  the 
world  over,  we  are  awed  by  a  sense  of  its  importance  as  an  incident 
in  the  worhPs  history,  and  are  filled  with  devout  thanksgiving  that 
in  the  time  of  greatest  need  our  country  had  defenders  who.  appre- 
ciating the  value  of  their  heritage,  were  invincible  in  their  purpose 
to  preserve  the  liberties  bequeathed  to  them  by  their  fathers. 

The  contest  here  waged  was  between  the  spirit  of  freedom  and 
the  spirit  of  oppression,  and  the  success  of  a  century  of  efi:ort  in  the 


cause  of  liuman  riglits  depended  in  a  large  measure  upon  its  results. 
In  it  _  the  sons  of  Vermont  had  a  conspicuous  part  and  contributed 
in  a  signal  degree  to  the  glorious  result.  Inheriting  the  courage  of 
those  who  fought  with  Allen  and  AVarner,  possessing  the  intense 
love  of  liberty  that  has  been  the  heritage  of  our  people,  representing 
a  State  that  in  its  birth  was  dedicated  to  freedom  and  whose  history 
was  an  inspiration  to  high  purposes  and  heroic  deeds,  and  believing 
that  the  strength  and  safety  of  our  free  institutions  rested  in  the 
maintenance  of  a  union  between  all  the  States,  they  were  found 
where  the  battle  was  the  hottest,  striking  blows  for  liberty,  and  they 
saw  the  opposing  host  surge  back  defeated  never  again  to  approach 
so  near  the  goal  of  their  misguided  ambition. 

In  grateful  recognition  of  their  services.  Vermont  has  raised 
this  monument  to  commemorate  the  valor  of  all  her  sons  who  served 
upon  this  field,  and  has  erected  others  to  indicate  the  spots  where 
they  were  engaged. 

May  the  memories  they  arouse  be  a  hallowed  influence  in  the 
lives  of  all  who  shall  in  future  years  visit  this  spot,  inspiring  senti- 
ments of  inteuse  loyalty  to  country  and  devotion  to  constitutional 
liberty. 

Gentlemen:  The  pleasant  duty  is  mine,  in  behalf  of  the  State 
of  Vermont,  to  commit  these  monuments  to  the  care  of  the  patriotic 
organization  which  you  so  worthily  represent. 

Judge  Wheelock  G.  Veasey,  in  behalf  of  the  Gettysburg  Battle- 
field Memorial  Association,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  accepted  the 
monuments,  in  the  following  words  : 

COL.  VEAZEY'S  ADDRESS. 


Whe]i  the  Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial  Association  invited 
Vermont,  in  common  with  other  states,  to  erect  monuments  on 
this  field  in  honor  of  her  sons  who  fought  here,  it  impliedly  pledged 
itself  to  become  the  guardian  of  such  monuments.  In  pursuance 
of  that  implied  pledge  this  Association  now  cheerfully  renews  the 
same  in  express  terms,  and  accepts  the  trust,  in  full  appreciation  of 
the  responsibility  which  it  incurs. 

Having  myself  been  one  of  the  Vermont  commissioners  who 
acted  for  the  State  in  the  work  of  selecting  and  deciding  upon  de- 
signs, preparing  inscriptions,  contracting  for  the  execution,  and 
settling  the  question  of  location  of  the  five  monuments  which 
Vermont  this  day  dedicates,  it  would  be  unbecoming  in  me  to  speak 
in  any  personal  sense  of  the  quality  or  api^ropriateness  of  these 
structures,  or  of  the  honorable  and  important  service  which  the  men 
performed  on  the  different  parts  of  this  great  field,  in  memory  of 


Avlioni  and  of  their  deeds  these  structures  are  erected.  But  the 
directors  of  this  Association  have  selected  me  from  their  number  to 
speak  officially  for  them  today,  and  have  directed  me  to  sa}^  in  their 
behalf  that  they  have  noted  from  first  to  last  the  patient  acquiescence 
of  the  Vermont  Commission  in  those  restrictive  rules  and  regulations, 
especially  as  to  material,  location  and  inscriptions,  which  the  Associa- 
tion had  adopted  for  general  application,  thougli  the  necessity  and 
wisdom  of  them  would  not  be  easily  apparent  to  persons  not  famil- 
iar with  the  causes  that  made  such  rules  a  necessity.  The  directors 
desire  to  ex^Dress  their  appreciation  and  gratitude  for  the  intelligent 
consideration  which  the  Commission  from  Vermont  has  always  ex- 
hibited in  all  correspondence  and  negotiations  between  them. 

The  directors  further  advise  me  to  say  that,  in  accepting  this 
trust,  they  recognize  the  high  quality  of  the  service  which  was  per- 
formed by  the  various  Vermont  organizations  at  vital  points  of  tlie 
battle,  and  the  excellence  and  appro^^riateness  of  the  structures 
erected  to  commemorate  that  service  and  the  men  who  performed 
it.  They  recognize  that  a  State  whose  military  force  was  so  nearly 
wholly  engaged  in  this  battle,  as  was  that  of  Vermont,  should  have 
a  monument  here  not  limited  to  single  organizations,  but  dedicated 
to  the  honor  of  all. 

AVithin  a  short  radius  from  one  spot  on  this  extended  battle 
field,  many  things  occurred  of  the  greatest  historic  interest  and  im- 
portance. It  was  here  that  the  battle  culminated  at  the  close  of 
three  days  of  fierce  and  des2)erate  conflict.  It  was  here  that  history 
has  recorded  that  the  rebellion  touched  its  high  water  mark,  arid  in 
the  sense  intended  by  the  statement  it  is  a  true  record.  It  was  here 
that  Hancock  and  Stannard  stood  on  the  extreme  front  of  the 
Union  lines,  until  they  received  tlie  ugly  woinids  that  nearly  cost 
them  their  lives:  and  even  then  refused  to  be  taken  from  the  field 
until  the  shouts  of  victory  rang  from  Cemetery  Hill  to  Eoiiud  Top. 
It  was  here  that  the  Secoiid  Vermont  brigade  stood  in  what  turned 
out  to  be  the  pivotal  point  of  the  battle,  sevei'al  rods  to  the  front 
of  the  general  battle  line,  and  in  the  gap  between  Pickett  and 
AVilcox,  and  swung  first  to  the  right  and  charged  into  the  flank  of 
Pickett's  division,  and  then  swtmg  back  to  the  left  and  charged  into 
the  flank  of  Wilcox.  It  was  in  this  last  movement  by  the  sturdy 
sons  of  A^ermont  that  the  final  desperate  onset  of  the  enemy  in  this 
momentous  battle  was  crushed. 

The  directors  of  the  Association  concurred  with  the  Commis- 
sion that  this  was  the  one  spot  where  Vermont's  monument  should 
stand.  Cojoied  as  it  was  after  a  model  which  Grecian  genius  pro- 
duced two  thousand  years  ago,  and  which  has  stood  the  test  of  the 
centuries  since  as  the  most  j^erfect  model  of  montimental  architec- 
ture; built  of  solid  granite,  taken  from  the  same  Green  Mountains 
that  bristled  with  thinkino-  bavonets  when  rebellion  threatened  the 


—  28  — 


nation's  life;  surmonntecl  by  the  figure  in  bronze  of  Vermont's  great 
volunteer  soldier,  overlooking  the  field  of  his  most  brilliant  achiev- 
ment,  with  the  same  calm,  but  determined  expression  that  was  on 
his  face  when  he  saw  the  great  charging  column  steadily  moving- 
down  upoji  his  little  command,  and  when  he  seized,  as  with  the 
inspiration  of  genius,  the  advantage  which  his  position  afforded  ;  the 
directors  recognize  that  this  structure  fittingly  and  nobly  com- 
memorates the  men  in  whose  honor  it  is  erected^  and  appreciate 
the  high  duty  resting  upon  the  Association  to  preserve  it  in  its 
beauty  and  glory. 

Tlie  directors  also  desire  me  to  say  that  in  like  degree  do  they 
recognize  their  duty  as  to  the  other  monuments  which  Vermont  has 
erected  in  especial  honor  and  commemoration  of  the  several  organ- 
izations of  the  State  respectively,  on  other  parts  of  this  memorable 
field. 

From  the  summit  of  Eound  Top  to  the  Taneytown  Pike,  guard- 
ing the  left  flank  of  the  army,  and  at  the  same  time  within  ready 
call  of  any  otlier  portion  of  the  line,  as  a  reserve,  was  the  position 
of  the  First  Vermont  brigade,  whose  history  is  commensurate  with 
that  of  the  Potomac  army,  and  whose  fame  is  unsurpassed  in  mili- 
tary annals.  On  that  line,  on  the  avenue  bearing  the  name  of  theii 
corps  commander,  the  great  Sedgwick,  is  the  lion  in  granite,  a  fit- 
ting type  of  the  courage  and  quality  of  the  brigade,  aroused  by  the 
noise  of  the  battle,  and  ready  to  spring  on  the  prey  tliat  should 
venture  to  cross  its  path. 

In  front  of  Round  Top  the  First  Vermont  cavalry  followed  the 
heroic  Farnswortli  in  that  reckless,  but  most  gallant,  charge  u23on 
the  lines  of  Law's  infantry  brigade;  a  charge  as  certainly  into  the 
jaws  of  death  as  that  of  the  cavalry  at  Balaklava,  but  most  import- 
ant, and  perhaps  absolutely  essential,  as  a  flank  movement  to  relieve 
the  pressure  on  the  left  centre,  upon  which  Pickett's  and  the  other 
divisions  of  Longstreet's  corps  were  making  their  renowned  charges. 
This  is  the  well  selected  location  for  a  monument  to  the  brave  riders 
in  eighty-six  battles  and  engagements  of  the  war  in  which  they 
participated. 

Away  to  the  front,  beyond  Seminary  Ridge,  from  which  the 
enemy  made  his  famous  assaults  on  the  second  and  third  days  of 
the  battle,  a  Vermont  company  in  the  First  regiment  of  United 
States  Sharpshooters,  discovered  and  developed  the  movement  of 
Longstreet  to  gain  the  Round  Tops  and  turn  the  Union  left  flank,  on 
the  second  day  of  the  battle,  and,  with  their  comrades  of  that  regi- 
ment, delayed  the  movement  by  skillful  and  hard  fighting,  until 
dispositions  were  made  by  Gen.  Sickles  to  meet  it.  On  that  extreme 
front  fittingly  stands  an  elegant  marljle  column  to  tell  the  story  to 
generations  to  come  of  the  gallant  and  important  service  of  these 
brave  riflemen. 


—  29  — 


Between  that  and  the  cavalry  moiiumeut,.  near  the  Slyder  House, 
another  historic  point  of  this  field,  two  other  com^^anies  of  Vermont 
Sharpshooters,  in  the  Second  regiment  of  that  famous  command, 
tirst  received  the  advance  of  Longstreet's  corps,  as  it  swept  like  a 
tornado  from  the  crest  of  Seminary  Eidge  into  the  ravine  between  the 
Eound  Tops,  which  has  been  appropriately  designated  as  the  ^'Devirs 
Den,  "  and  there  those  skilled  marksmen  clung  with  such  pertinacity 
and  until  so  enveloped  by  the  foe  on  front  and  tianks,  as  to  have 
acquired  for  the  ^^ilace  the  sobriquet  of  the  "hornet's  nest."  There, 
carved  in  granite,  a  hornet's  nest,  with  appropriate  inscriptions, 
silently  but  potently  tells  the  story  of  heroic  duty,  for  this  little 
force  of  determined  patriots. 

Speaking  for  the  directors,  whom  I  now  represent,  these  brief 
allusions  are  made  tliat  the  representatives  of  the  Green  Mountain 
State  may  know  that  the  Gettysburg  Battlefield  Memorial  Associa- 
tion has  not  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  descendants  of  Allen  and 
Warner  and  the  other  heroes  who  held  our  mountain  fastnesses  in 
the  stormy  days  of  tlie  revolution,  made  on  this  field  one  of  the 
grandest  pages  of  American  history;  and  that  it  is  in  full  appreciation 
of  this  fact  that  the  Association  accepts  the  sacred  trust  now  reposed 
in  it  by  the  noble  State  that  never  failed  in  patriotic  duty. 

AVlien  Col.  Veazey  had  finished,  the  band  phiyed  the  Star  Span- 
gled Banner,  after  whicli  Senator  Edmunds  delivered  the  oratioii  of 
the  day. 

SEjSWTOR  EDMUXDS'S  oeatiox. 

Felloic  Citizens  : 

To-day,  on  a  battle-field  in  the  great  State  founded  by  William 
Penn.the  foremost  man  of  peace, we  dedicate  the  monument  our  small 
and  distant  State,  the  child  of  war,  erects  to  the  memory  of  her 
soldiers,  who  shared  somewhat  conspicuoush'  in  the  great  and  de- 
cisive battle  that  in  1863,  very  near  the  anniversary  of  the  founding 
of  the  republic,  was  fought  to  victory  for  liberty  and  law  along  the 
now  sunny  and  silent  vales  and  hillsides  where  it  stands,  among 
many  similar  memorials,         in  ter  pares. 

In  the  great  drama  of  the  world's  progress,  scenes  and  char- 
acters change  rapidly.  The  time  is  not  far  past — a  mere  span  in 
the  history  of  civilization,  when  the  fair  landscapes  we  now  behold 
filled  with  homes  of  an  intelligent,  free  and  prosperous  people,  were 
part  of  a  vast  wilderness  of  forests,  desolate  in  everything  save  the 
untouched  exuberance  of  nature  and  the  presence  of  the  savage  and 
nomadic  Indian.  A  little  later  the  Anglo-Saxon  came  and  the 
forests  and  the  Indian  gave  way  to  the  slow  advance  of  farms  and 
shops,  of  churches  and  of  schools.    A  little  later  these  young  socie- 


—  30  — 


ties  were  engaged  in  a  mortal  struggle  of  arms  to  relieve  tliem- 
selves  from  tyranny  and  oppression,  and  to  establish  for  tiiemselves 
and  their  posterity  forever  a  government  in  which  the  security 
of  private  property,  personal  liberty,  and  freedom  of  thought 
and  speech  should  be  the  corner-stones  —  a  commonwealth 
of  equal  rights  in  union  with  other  commonwealths,  and 
a  union  of  the  people  of  all  in  a  nation.  All  these  transitions 
were,  though  rapid  when  seen  in  the  perspective  of  history,  slow, 
painful  and  costly  in  detail  ;  the  hardships  of  immigration  and 
pioneer  life,  tlie  dangers  and  disasters  from  hostile  savages,  the 
jealousies  and  feuds  of  personal  ambition  and  discontent,  touched 
somewhere  almost  daily,  the  life  of  the  colonial  period  ; — the  strug- 
gles of  inexperienced,  ill-clothed,  and  ill-fed  and  poorly  armed 
soldiers,  made  still  more  difficult  by  the  want  of  real  unity  and  con- 
fidence between  the  new-born  States  of  the  Confederation, character- 
ized the  war  period  of  the  Revolution  ;  and  the  re-formation  of  the 
goverjiment,  when  iiidependence  of  the  British  crown  had  been 
achieved,  into  a  government  of  the  people  as  well  as  of  the  States, 
with  the  adjustment  of  boundaries,  debts  and  taxation,  marked  the 
period  of  the  early  years  of  our  established  republic  as  one  of  the 
most  critical  that  had  yet  appeared  in  the  history  of  the  continent. 
At  last  the  hopes  of  patriots  began  to  be  realized,  and  the  several 
States  of  the  perfected  union  entered  upon  a  career  of  development 
and  prosperity  in  the  proportion — and  no  other — to  the  funda- 
mental principles  and  practice  upon  which  the  State  governments 
were  founded  and  carried  on. 

The  States  in  which  equal  laws  Avere  equally  administered  for 
the  preservation  of  the  jnst  liberties  and  equal  rights  of  all  the 
people  far  outstripped  those  in  which  slavery  was  a  feature  of  the 
social  and  political  system,  in  every  element  and  step  of  civilized 
progress. 

The  inevitable  culmination  of  these  politically  connected  but 
hostile  social  systems  came  in  the  rebellion  of  1861.  It  lasted  long 
enough,  under  the  Providence  of  God,  to  enable  the  friends  of  lib- 
erty for  all  the  human  race  to  eradicate  by  just  and  lawful  means 
the  crime  and  curse  of  slavery  from  its  place — secure  l)ef ore — in  the 
governmental  systems  of  all  the  States  that  still  continued  it,  and  to 
put  all  the  people  of  all  the  States  upon  the  common  footing  of  equal 
civil  and  political  rights.  Thenceforth,  there  must  be  in  law,  and 
might  and  ought  to  be  in  practice,  one  people,  and  a  union  of 
States  whose  laws  in  respect  of  intrinsic  human  rights,  which  our 
declaration  of  independence  asserted,  were  everywhere  alike. 

The  immediate  origin  of  the  rebellion  is  familiar  to  us  all. 
The  slave-holding  States  repudiated  the  confessedly  fair  and  con- 
stitutional election  of  a  president  who  believed  in  liberty  for  all, 
and  who,  it  was  certain,  would  not  promote  the  interests  of  a  slave 


system,  or  defend  them  l3eyoiid  sucli  clear  line  of  duty  as  the  con- 
stitution imposed  upon  him.  On  this  ground  and  this  alone  the 
rebellion — under  the  false  name  of  secession — which  President  Jack- 
son had  obliterated  30  years  before,  was  inaugurated  and  carried  on. 
It  was  unicpie.  I  believe  such  a  rebellion  was  without  a  precedent 
or  parallel  in  any  country  at  any  time.  In  the  abtindance  of  strug- 
gles against  the  constituted  authority  of  states  and  kings.  I  am  sure 
none  can  be  found  in  which  the  effort  Avas  to  overthrow  a  govern- 
ment devoted  to  lawful  liberty  and  tu  ljuild  one  whose  chief  corner 
stone  and  whose  sole  reason  to  be.  was  the  preservation  and  mainte- 
nance of  hitman  bondage. 

It  was  to  defend  and  maintain  the  national  government  against 
such  an  assault  that  our  citizen  soldiers. — as  well  as  the  brave  and 
patriotic  of  other  States — left  their  avocations  of  peace  in  farm  and 
shop  and  store,  in  school  and  office  and  pulpit,  and  came  to  this  and 
many  other  fields  of  conflict,  and  gave  their  lives  to  a  cause  that 
can  never  become  unworthy  or  obsolete,  and  won  a  wreath  of  honor 
that  can  never  fade. 

But  even  now.  after  a  quarter  of  a  century,  it  is  a^^parent  that 
the  full  and  final  benefit  and  beneficence  of  the  great  sacrifice  is 
not  yet  reached.  In  many  of  the  old  slave-holding  commonwealths 
there  has  existed,  and  continues  to  be  methodically  practiced,  a  sys- 
tematized repression  of  the  liberated  race  and  of  those  white  citizens 
who  defend  its  rights  of  free  speech  and  lawful  voting,  and  which 
not  only  robs  the  citizens  of  all  other  States  of  the  full  weight  of 
their  just  and  lawful  influence  in  the  legislation  of  the  country, 
but  wliich.  in  its  various  forms  of  fraud,  tyranny,  violence  and 
cruelty,  sets  at  nauo'ht  those  essential  principles  of  social  order  and 
morality,  without  the  practice  of  which  no  free  and  Christian 
society  can  exist.  These  things  afl'ect  the  Avelfare  and  the  true  life 
of  every  part  of  the  republic  :  and  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen  of 
whatever  race,  creed  or  party,  to  exert  himself  to  bring  them  to  an 
end.  Until  secure  and  peaceful  freedom  and  equality,  both  politi- 
cal and  civil,  come  to  every  citizen  of  every  State,  these  monuments 
will  ncit  liave  shown  their  full  and  true  sigmificance. 

I  am  not  reviving  what  flippant  and  wily  politicians  are  so  fond 
of  callino-  ••  the  bitterness  and  hatreds  of  the  war.'"  There  never 
have  been  any  such  sentiments  in  the  hearts  of  the  citizens  who 
stood  for  the  unity  of  their  countiw,  other  or  further  than  an  intense 
dislike  of  a  rebellion  prosecuted  for  the  perpetuation  of  human 
slavery,  and  the  hatred,  then  and  now.  of  cruelty,  tyranny  and  o]v 
pression.  I  pray  that  such  sentiments  may  continue  earnest  and 
active  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men.  for  they  are  insej^arable  f rom 
the  love  of  truth  and  justice  and  liberty.  It  was  the  inspiration  of 
such  sentiments  that  led  the  A'ermonters  and  the  jiatriots  of  other 
States  to  this  great  battlefield,  and  our  memorial  to  them  will  not 


—  32  ~ 


be  complete  until  such  sentiments  are  realized  in  the  fullest  sense 
in  every  part  of  the  republic. 

To  the  memory  of  those  of  our  own  citizens  who  fell  liere  in  the 
critical  battle  of  the  war,  of  those  who  fell  on  the  other  fields,  of 
those  who  perished  in  the  line  of  duty  anywhere,  and  to  the  honor 
of  those  who  still  survive  the  great  contest,  our  sturdy  and  stead- 
fast State  erects  this  shaft,  formed  from  the  granite  of  her  own 
Green  Mountains  and  surmounted  by  the  bronze  image  of  one  of  her 
heroic  sons  who  commanded  her  troops  on  this  field.  Long  may  it 
stand  secure,  with  its  associated  monuments,  not  only  as  a  memorial 
of  heroic  deeds  for  liberty  and  justice  and  true  republican  govern- 
ment, but  as  an  inspiration  to  us  and  to  all  who  shall  come  after  us 
in  future  time,  to  devote  themselves,  against  whatever  temptations 
and  in  spite  of  whatever  peril  or  adversity,  to  the  defence  and  ex- 
tension of  liberty,  justice  and  equal  rights  among  men.  Thus  there 
will  be  always  for  our  country — and  we  may  hope  in  the  not  far 
future  for  every  other — a  career  whose  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness 
and  all  whose  paths  are  peace.. 

The  speakers  were  listened  to  with  marked  attention  and 
they  were  fref[uently  interrupted  by  applause. 

The  poem  by  Mrs.  Julia  C.  E.  Dorr  of  Rutland,  was  then  read 
by  Professor  James  W.  Churchill  of  Andover,  Mass. 

GETTYSBUEG— 1863-1889. 


BY  JULIA  C.  R.  DORR. 


I. 

Brothers,  is  this  the  spot  ? 
Let  the  drums  cease  to  beat: 
Let  the  tread  of  marching  feet, 
With  the  clash  and  clang  of  steel 
And  the  trumpet's  long  appeal, 
(Cry  of  joy  and  sob  of  pain 
In  its  passionate  refrain) 

Cease  awhile, 

Nor  beguile 
Thoughts  that  would  rehearse  the  story 
Of  the  past's  remembered  glory: — 
Thoughts  that  would  revive  to-day 
Stern  War's  rude,  imperious  sway,— 
Waken  battle's  fiery  glow, 
With  its  ardor  and  its  woe, 
With  its  wild,  exulting  thrills, 
Witli  the  rush  of  mighty  w411s. 
And  the  strength  to  do  and  dare: — 
Born  of  passion  and  of  prayer  ! 


—  33  — 


II. 

Let  the  present  fade  away, 
And  the  splendors  of  to-day  ; 
For  our  hearts  within  us  burn 
As  our  glances  backward  turn. 
AVhat  rare  memories  awaken 
As  the  tree  of  life  is  shaken, 
And  its  storied  branches  blow 
In  the  winds  of  long  ago  ! 
Do  ye  not  remember,  brothers. 
Ere  the  war  days  how  t'was  said 
-  Grand,  heroic  days  were  over 
And  proud  chivalry  was  dead  ? 
Still  we  saw  the  glittering  lances 
Gleaming  through  the  old  romances, 
Still  beheld  the  watch-fires  burning 
On  the  cloudy  heights  of  Time  : 

And  from  fields  that  they  had  won 
AYlien  the  storiny  fight  was  done 
Saw  victorious  knights  returning 
Flushed  with  triumph's  joy  sublime  ! 
For  the  light  of  song  and  story 
Kindled  with  supernal  glory 
Plains  where  ancient  heroes  fought : 
And  illumined,  with  a  splendor 
Rare  and  magical  and  tender, 
All  the  mighty  deeds  they  wrought. 
But  we  thought  the  sword  of  battle, 
Long  unused,  had  lost  its  glow. 
And  the  sullen  war-gods  slumbered 
Where  their  altar-fires  burned  low  ! 

III. 

Was  the  nation  dull  and  sodden. 

Buried  in  material  things  ? 
'Twas  the  chrysalis  awaiting 

The  sure  stirring  of  its  wings  ! 
For  when  rang  the  thrilling  war-cry 

Over  all  the  startled  land, 
And  the  fiery  cross  of  battle, 

Flaming,  sped  from  hand  to  hand 
Then  how  fared  it,  O  my  brothers  ? 

AVere  men  false  or  craven  then 
Did  they  falter? 
Did  they  palter '? 
Did  tliev  question  whv  or  when  ? 
Oh,  the  story  shall  be  told 
Until  earth  itself  is  old  : 
How  from  mountain  and  from  glen 
More  than  thrice  ten  thousand  men 
Heard  the  challenge  of  the  foe, 
Heard  the  nation's  cry  of  woe. 
Heard  the  summoning  to  arms. 
And  the  battle's  loud  alarms  I 
In  tumultuous  surprise. 
JjO,  their  answer  rent  the  skies  : 


—    S4:  — 


And  its  quick  and  strong  heart-thrills 

Rocked  the  everlasting  hills  ! 

Forth  from  blossoming  fields  they  sped 

To  the  fields  with  carnage  red  ; 

Left  the  plowshare  standing  still, 

Left  the  iDench,  the  forge,  the  mill. 

Left  the  quiet  walks  of  trade 

And  the  quarry's  marble  shade, 

Left  the  pulpit  and  the  court, 

Careless  ease  and  idle  sport, 

Left  the  student's  cloistered  halls 

In  the  old,  gray  college  walls, 

Left  young  love-dreams,  dear  and  sweet, 

War's  stern  front,  unblenched  to  meet ! 

Oh,  the  strange  and  sad  amaze 

Of  those  unforgotten  days. 

When  the  boys  whom  we  had  guided, 

Nursed  and  loved,  caressed  and  chided. 

Suddenly,  as  in  a  night. 

Sprang  to  manhood's  proudest  height  : 

And  with  calmly  smiling  lips, 

As  who  life's  rarest  goblet  sips. 

Dauntless,  with  unhurried  breath, 

Marched  to  danger  and  death  ! 

IV. 

Soldiers,  is  this  the  spot  ? 
Fair  the  scene  is,  calm  and  fair, 
In  this  still  October  air  ; — 
Far  blue  hills  look  gently  down 
On  the  happy  tranquil  town. 
And  the  ridges  nearer  by 
Steeped  in  autumn  sunshine  lie. 
Laden  orchards,  smiling  fields. 
Rich  in  all  that  nature  yields. 
Bright  streams  winding  in  and  out 
Fertile  meadows  round  about. 
Lowing  herds  and  hum  of  bee, 
Birds  that  flit  from  tree  to  tree,  ' 
Children's  voices  ringing  clear, 
All  we  touch  or  see  or  hear, 
— Fruit  of  gold  in  silver  set — 
Tell  of  joy  and  peace.    And  yet — 

Soldiers,  is  this  the  spot 

That  can  never  be  forgot  ? 
Was  it  liere  that  shot  and  shell 
Poured  as  from  the  mouth  of  hell. 
Drenched  the  shrinking,  trembling  plain 
With  a  flood  of  fiery  rain  ? 
Was  it  here  the  awful  wonder 
Of  the  cannon's  crashing  thunder 
Shook  the  affrighted  hills,  and  made 
Even  the  stolid  rocks  afraid? 
Was  it  here  an  armed  host, 

Like  two  clouds  where  lightnings  play. 
Or  two  oceans,  tempest  tossed. 

Clashed  and  mingled  in  the  fray  ? 
Here  that  'mid  the  din  and  smoke, 


Roar  of  guns  and  sabre  stroke, 
Tramp  of  furious  steeds,  where  moan 
Horse  and  rider,  both  o'erthrown, 
Lurid  fires  and  battle  yell. 
Forty  thousand  brave  men  fell  ? 

V. 

O  brothers,  words  are  weak  ! 
AVhat  tongue  shall  dare  to  speak  ? 
Even  song  itself  grows  dumb 
In  this  liigh  presence. — Come 
Forth,  re  whose  ashes  lie 
Under  this  arcliing  sky  1 
Speak  ye  in  accents  clear, 
AVords  that  we  fain  would  hear  1 
Tell  us  when  yom*  dim  eyes. 
Holy  with  sacrifice. 
Looked  through  the  battle  smoke 

L'p  to  the  skies  : — 
Tell  us.  ye  valiant  dead. 
When  your  souls  starward  lied, 
How  from  the  portals  far 
Where  the  immortals  are, 
Chieftains  and  vikings  old, 
Heroes  and  warriors  bold, 
Men  whom  old  Homer  sung. 
Men  of  each  age  and  tongue. 
Knights  from  a  thousand  fields 
Bearing  their  blazoned  shields 

Thronged  forth  to  meet  you  1 
Tell  us  how,  floating  down. 
Each  with  a  martyr's  crown. 
They  who  had  kept  the  faith. 
Grandly  defying  death. 
They  who  for  conscience's  sake 
Felt  their  firm  heartstrings  break. 
They  who  for  truth  and  right 
L'nshrinking  fought  the  fight. 
They  who  through  fire  and  flame 
Passed  on  to  deatlfiess  fame 

Hastened  to  greet  you  I 
Tell  how  they  welcomed  yoti. 
Hailed  and  applauded  you. 
Claimed  you  as  comrades  true. 
Brave  as  the  world  e'er  knew  : 
Led  your  tritimphant  feet 
Up  to  the  highest  seat, 
Crowned  ye  with  amaranth, 
Laurel  and  palm  1 

Yl, 

Alas.  Alas  1    They  speak  not  ! 
The  silence  deep  they  break  not  1 
Heaven  keep  its  martyred  ones. 
Beyond  or  moon  or  suns  : 
And  VaUialla  keep  her  braves, — 
Leaving  to  us  their  graves  1 


—  36  — 


Then  let  these  graves  speak  for  them 

As  long  as  the  wind  sweeps  o'er  them  ! 

As  long  as  the  sentinel  ridges 

Keep  guard  on  either  hand  ; 

As  long  as  the  hills  they  fought  for 

Like  silent  watch-towers  stand  ! 

VII. 

Yet  not  of  them  alone 

Round  each  memorial  stone 
Shall  the  proud  breezes  whisper  as  they  pass, 

Eustling  the  faded  leaves 

On  chilly  autumn  eves 
And  swaying  tenderly  the  sheltering  grass  ! 

O  ye  who  on  this  field 

Knew  not  the  joy  to  yield 
Your  young,  glad  lives  in  glorious  conflict  up, 

Ye  who  as  bravely  fought. 

Ye  who  as  grandly  wrought. 
Draining  with  them  wear's  bitter  cup. 

As  long  as  stars  endure 

And  God  and  Truth  are  sure. 

While  Love  still  claims  its  own, 

While  Honor  holds  its  throne 

And  Valor  hath  a  name. 

Still  shall  these  stony  pages 

Repeat  to  all  the  ages 

The  story  of  your  fame  ! 

VIII. 

O  beautiful  one,  my  Country, 
Thou  fairest  daughter  of  Time, 
To-day  are  thine  eyes  unclouded 
In  the  light  of  faith  sublime  ! 
No  thunder  of  battle  appals  thee  ; 
From  thy  woe  thou  hast  found  release  ; 
From  the  graves  of  thy  sons  steals  only 
This  one  soft  whisper, — "  Peace  !" 


The  benediction  was  then  pronounced  by  Rev.  Dr.  H.  W. 
McKniglit,  President  of  Pennsylvana  College^  of  Gettysburg. 

The  exercises  were  all  of  the  highest  interest.  The  addresses 
held  the  closest  attention  of  the  numerous  audience.  The  oration 
produced  a  deep  impression  and  was  applauded  to  the  echo.  The 
poem  was  read  with  strong  feeling  and  very  fine  effect  by  Prof. 
Churchill,  and  thrilled  and  touched  every  hearer.  And  it  was  the 
general  verdict  of  the  many  intelligent  citizens  of  Gettysburg 
who  were  present,  that  among  the  many  similar  occasions  of  the 
kind  which  had  occurred  upon  the  Battlefield,  not  one  had  been 
marked  by  more  dignified,  fitting  and  impressive  exercises. 


—  37  — 


Tlie  procession  now  formed  again,  and  moA'ed  to  Little  Eound 
Top,  at  the  foot  of  Avliieli  an  ample  Inncli  was  served  to  the  Yer- 
monters  and  their  gnests.  Moving  thence  to  the  summit  of  Little 
Eonnd  Top,  Col.  John  B.  Batclielder  of  Massachusetts,  the  historian 
and  statistician  of  the  Battle  of  Gettyshnrg.  explained,  in  a  clear 
and  comprehensive  manner,  the  various  moA'ements  of  the  two  ar- 
mies on  the  second  and  third  days  of  the  battle,  with  especial  refer- 
ence to  the  23arts  taken  by  the  Vermont  troops.  The  com2}any  then 
moved  to  the  monument  of  the  First  A^ermont  Brigade,  on  Sedgwick 
Avenue.  Halting  around  the  granite  lion,  they  were  addressed  l)y 
Col.  T.  0.  Seaver,  as  follows  : 

APDRESS  OF  COL.  T.  O.  SFAVFR. 


Comrades  and  Citizehs  of  'Vermont: 

It  is  indeed  most  fitting  that  a  grateful  country  should  mark 
with  enduring  bronze  or  granite,  the  s})ot  where  its  sons,  in  tlie 
fore  front  of  hottest  Ijattle  have  otfered  their  lives  to  preserve  its 
inteo'ritv  and  maintain  its  honor.  Bv  such  otferino-s  its  historv  is 
enriched  and  its  character  ennobled. 

At  Bunker  Hill,  that  great  stone  finger,  pointing  up  to  heaven, 
in  simple  unuttered  language  tells  the  story  of  the  Revolution. 

AYe  recognize  the  gratitude  of  our  State,  which  has  moved 
it  to  set  up  over  yonder  that  lieautiful  granite  column,  which 
has  already  been  dedicated  in  such  impressive  manner  and  by 
such  appropriate  speech.  AVe  all  realize  how  appropriate  it  is, 
that  it  should  stand  there,  on  the  very  S2}0t  where  the  valor  of  her 
sons  Avas  so  conspicuously  displayed,  on  t1iat  historic  day  and  field, 
which  they  so  gallantly  helped  to  win. 

I  think  I  correctly  voice  the  sentiment  of  the  Old  Brigade,  in 
saying,  that  whatsoever  of  credit  Ave  may  think  ourselves  entitled  to^ 
f orbattles  fought  on  other  fields,  or  deeds  done  otherAvheres.  Ave  have 
and  claim  no  part  of  the  renoAvn  Avon  by  Verinont  on  the  battle 
slo^^es  of  Gettysburg.  That  renoAvn  was  won  by  the  soldiers  of  the 
Second  Brigade  ;  and  aa'c  are  too  jealous  of  our  own  honor  to  wish  to 
lessen  theirs  by  sharing  it. 

But  when  I  come  back  from  that  perilous  ridge,  to  this  spot 
where  the  First  Yermont  Brigade  (aiuh  but  for  this  field  I  should 
have  said,  The  Yermont  Brigade)  was  arrayed  on  that  long  to  be 
remembered  third  day  of  July.  1863,  I  almost  feel  as  if  fate  Avas 


—  38  — 


mocking  that  graucl  old  battle  column,  in  tliat  tlie  fine  old  regi- 
ments of  which  it  was  made  up,  veterans  of  well  nigh  two  score 
bloody  fields,  should  at  last  be  remembered  by  a  monument  set  up 
on  a  field  where  they  fired  never  a  hostile  gun  nor  once  looked  their 
foe  in  the  face. 

And  so  here,  at  the  dedication  of  a  monument  to  The  Old 
Brigade,  what  can  I  say  ?  Its  history  is  of  the  history  of  Ver- 
mont during  the  war,  made  up  not  by  the  books  it  has  written,  but 
by  the  deeds  it  wrought.  Its  character  is  shown  in  the  thinned 
ranks  of  its  survivors,  and  in  the  number  of  its  dead  on  its  battle- 
fields. On  one  fine  day  in  May,  down  across  the  Eappahanock,  in  the 
tangled  thickets  of  the  Wilderness,  each  one  of  its  five  regiments 
left  more  men  dead  on  the  field  than  all  the  Vermont  regiments 
together  lost  at  Gettysburg. 

Vermont  had  eighteen  regiments  in  the  service.  The  roll  of 
her  killed  in  battle  is  seventeen  hundred  and  three.  Of  this  number, 
nine  hundred  and  seventy-eight  were  of  the  Old  Brigade.  The 
simplest,  baldest  statement  of  these  historic  facts,  is  the  most 
eloquent  description  of  its  character  that  human  lips  can  utter. 

In  the  early  morning  of  July  2,  1863,  we  were  at  Manchester,  34 
miles  east  of  Gettysburg  ;  we  marched  all  day  to  the  music  of  the 
guns,  and  at  five  o'olock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  hot,  scorching  day 
we  were  here.  The  next  morning  it  was  said  that  Gen.  Hood  was 
about  to  march  around  the  southern  flank  of  this  mountain,  and 
that  we  were  here  to     receive  him  in  due  and  ancient  form." 

He  never  came.  We  never  thought  he  could  come.  The  ob- 
structions in  his  way  would  have  proved  very  great. 

All  through  that  long  summer's  day  we  lay  here  and  listened 
to  the  roar  of  more  than  two  hundred  guns  that  seemed  to  rock  the 
solid  earth  to  its  centre.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  fighting  a 
great  battle  and  we  not  in  it  ;  and  so  we  rest  and  try  to  realize  as 
best  we  can,  that  "  they  also  serve,  who  only  stand  and  wait." 

Long  before  set  of  sun,  the  field  was  ours.  It  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end  of  that  gigantic  effort  to  destroy  this  Nation. 

We  gratefully  accept  this  monument  set  up  here,  where  Ver- 
mont has  placed  it,  as  a  token  of  the  esteem  in  which  she  holds  the 
Old  Brigade  ;  and  we  are  not  unmindful  of  its  artistic  beauty  and 
the  2^oetic  significance  of  the  sculptured  figure  that  crowns  its 
summit.  In  it  and  by  it  the  Artist  has  sought,  and  we  think  not 
unsuccessfully,  to  typify  the  character  of  tlie  Old  Brigade.  We 
hope  that  those  who  know  us  best,  will  most  easily  discern  its 
truth. 

And  finally  as  we  leave  it  here  in  trust  to  the  Battlefield 
Association,  we  hope  that  in  all  the  coming  years,  as  our  children  in 
their  pilgrimages  from  their  distant  States,  shall  visit  this  spot,  they 
may  find  in  the  contemplation  of  this  structure  and  the  mighty 


-    39  — 


events  here  enacted,  something  that  shall  remind  them  of  the  value 
of  their  country,  and  of  the  cost  at  which  its  integrity  was  pre- 
served, and  so  shall  be  sealed  their  own  devotion  to  its  honor  and 
its  flag.  -  ■ 

The  procession  then  moved  to  the  Cavalry  monument  on  Kil- 
patrick  Avenue,  where  Gen.  William  AVells  gave  a  concise  and 
interesting  description  of  the  part  taken  by  the  First  Vermont  Cav- 
alry, and  especially  of  the  famous  cavalry  charge,  under  Gen. 
Farnsworth,  in  Avhicli  Gen.  AYells,  then  Major  of  the  First  Vermont 
Cavalry,  commanded  a  battalion  and  rode  at  Farnswortii's  side  into 
the  lines  of  Law's  Confederate  Brigade.  Captain  C.  H.  Par- 
sons, of  Natural  Bridge,  Ya.,  who  also  commanded  a  battalion  of 
the  First  Vermont  Cavalry  and  was  wounded  in  the  charge,  further 
described  Farnsw^orth^s  charge  and  the  death  of  its  leader. 

Thence  the  company  moved  to  the  monument  to  Companies  E  and 
H,  Second  U.  S.  Sharpshooters,  near  the  Slyder  house,  where  Capt. 
Curtis  Abbott  of  Company  H.  described  the  reception  given  by  the 
Sharpshooters  to  Law's  brigade  at  that  point,  in  which  he  took 
part.  Moving  thence  to  the  marble  monument  to  Company  F, 
First  U.  S.  Sharpshooters,  west  of  the  Emmittsburg  Road^  the  com- 
pany halted  in  front  of  it,  and  listened  to  Sergeant  Cassius  Peck  of 
Brookfield,  who  described  the  movements  and  service  of  the  com- 
pany on  that  fields  and  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  AVm.  Y.  AV.  Ripley 
of  the  1st  I".  S.  S.,  Avho,  after  some  brief  remarks,  introduced  Capt. 
Merriam  of  Company  F.  who  spoke  of  the  part  taken  by  Company 
F  in  the  morning  engagement  of  July  2,  1863. 

This  closed  the  public  exercises  and  the  assembly  dispersed,  all 
who  were  privileged  to  be  present  having  been  profoundly  interested 
and  impressed  by  the  sights  and  utterances  of  the  day.  A  special 
train  next  day  conveyed  the  Vermonters  to  Xew^  York,  whence 
they  sought  their  homes. 


APPENDIX. 


.  COXTRIBUTIOXS. 
The  following  contributions  in  money  were  made  by  citizen>  of 


Vermont  : 

J.  G.  McCnllough.  Xorth  Bennington   8200  00 

F.  B.  Jennings,  Xortli  Bennington   100  00 

Frederick  Billings,  Woodstock   500  00 

A.  B.  Valentine.  Bennington   100  00 

C.  S.  Page.  Hvde  Park   100  UO 

B.  B.  Smaller.  Burlington   100  00 

U.  A.  Voodbmw.  Burlington   50  00 

B.  D.  Harris,  Brattleboro  .   50  00 

H.  G.  Root.  Bennington   25  00 

L.  K.  Fuller.  Brattleboro   100  00 

X.  F.  Cabot,  Brattleboro   25  (in 

H.  Mann.  Jr. .  Wilmington   25  00 

J.  Gregory  Smith.  St.  Albans   500  00 

George  F.  Edmunds.  Burlington   50  00 

Justin  S.  Morrill,  Strafford   100  00 

Horace  Fairbanks.  St.  Johnsburv   100  00 

A.  E.  Rankin.  St.  Johnsbury , .  ."^   100  00 

J.  S.  Xewton.  Brattleboro .  ."^   5  00 

John  C.  Stearns.  Bradford   10  00 

HoTtH.  Wheeler.  Brattleboro   20  00 

Hudi  H.  Baxter.  Rutland   100  00 

E.  Henry  Powell,  Richford   50  00 

Franklin  Fairbanks.  St.  Johnsbury   50  00 

Simeon  Allen.  Fair  Haven   50  00 

P.  E.  Chase,  Mechanicsville   25  00 

Cttus  Jennings.  Hubbardton   25  00 

K  G.  Hinckler.' Chelsea   25  00 

P.  W.  Clement.  Rutland   25  oO 

W.  A.  Crombie.  Burlinoton   50  00 

J.  W.  Stewart.  Middlebiirv   lOo  no 

A.  F.  Walker.  Rutland../   25  00 


Total  money  contril)utions  in  Vermont,   82,785  00 

Following  is  a  list  of  money  contributions  made  by  former 

residents  of  Vermont,  now  living  in  other  States  : 

O.  S.  A.  Sprague.  Chicago   850  00 

Pacific  Coast  Association  Native  Sons  of 

Vermont  .   8158  50 


—  42  — 


The  subscribers  to  this  latter  were  : 

J.  McM.  Shafter   |20  00 

P.  J.  Shafter     5  00 

Thomas  McConnell    20  00 

Miss  R.  A.  Jewell   1  00         .  , 

A.  O.  Colton   5  00 

Dr.  A.  G.  Soule    5  00 

Will.  J.  Somers     5  00 

H.  L.  Dodge   20  00 

Chas.  Webb  Howard ....     20  00 

Wm.  G.  Barrett   5  00 

Alex.  G.  Hawes    5  00 

W.  E.  Belcher   5  00 

C.  D.  Ladd   2  50 

S.  M.  Collins   5  00 

R.  Vandercook    5  00 

H.  B.  Williams   20  00 

A.  W.  Scott                                             _  5  00 

Luther  C.  Dodge   5  00 

Total  $158  50 

Members  of  Vermont  Association  in  Boston  |170  00 

Following  are  the  subscriptions,  each  being  for  ten  dollars  :  - 

H.  O.  Houghton,  Edmund  H.  Bennett, 

Walbridge  A.  Field,  James  M.  Gleason, 

Clyde  D.  V.  Hunt,  J.  H.  Benton,  Jr. 

Geo.  N.  Carpenter,  John  P.  Squire, 

Alden  Speare,  Guy  Lamkin, 

H.  J.  Boardman,  P.  O'M.  Edson, 

Herbert  E.  Hill,  Reuben  Greeve, 

Samuel  Cutler,  Wm.  P.  Shreve. 
Total  17,  making  $170  00. 

Total  money  contributions,   |3,1^)3  5f) 

Gifts  of  material  and  labor  : 

Rush  C.  Hawkins,  New  York,  drawing  of 

State  monument   $  50  00 

Ripley  Sons,  Rutland,  towards  Co.  F,  1st 

li.  S.  S.  monument     700  00 

Total   $750  00 

Total  gifts  of  material  and  labor   $750  00 

Total  contributions   $3,913  50 


—  13  — 


A  LION  IX  THE  PATH." 

A  AYOEK  OF  BOSTON  ARTISTS  PROCURED  BY  VERMONT  FOR  GETTYSBURG. 
[From  the  Boston  Transcript,  May  20,  1889.] 

As  previously  mentioned  in  the  Transcript,  Vermont  is  to  honor  lier 
sons  wlio  fought  at  Gettysburg  by  erecting  five  monuments  upon  the  field. 
One  will  stand  where  the  Second  Yt.  Brigade  under  Stannard  made  the 
famous  and  eff ectiTe  charge  upon  Pickett's  flank.  This  v>'ill  be  a  Corinthian 
column,  surmounted  by  a  bronze  statue  of  Stannard  by  Karl  Gerhardt.  and 
will  stand  sixty-six  feet  high.  Three  others  of  smaller  size  but  attractive 
design  will  mark  the  positions  of  sharpshooters  and  cavalry,  and  the  fifth 
will  be  placed  where  the  First  Brigade  under  General  Lewis  A.  Grant 
guarded  the  left  Union  flank,  east  of  Round  Top. 

Fortunately  or  unfortunately  for  that,  brigade,  it  had  no  fighting  to  do 
at  Gettysburg,  though  it  had  marched  thirty -two  miles  in  a  day  to  get  into 
the  fight,  but  General  Meade  expected  a  powerful  attack  on  his  left  and 
rear  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  of  the  battle,  and  he  placed  this  brigade 
where  they  would  be  the  first  to  meet  it.  The  attack,  however,  was  made 
on  the  left  centre,  a  mile  to  their  right  and  rear,  and  these  hardy  veterans, 
distinguished  in  all  the  battles  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  up  to  that  time, 
chafed  in  inaction  within  half  an  hour's  march  of  the  exciting  event.  But 
their  service  was  important,  and  the  scene  of  it  is  to  be  marked  in  a  singu- 
larly befitting  manner. 

A  majestic  lion  in  a  half -rising  posture  will  be  placed  upon  a  pedestal 
inscribed  with  the  brigade's  record.  It  will  stand  at  the  centre  of  their 
position,  on  what  is  now  known  as  Sedgwick  avenue,  and  will  face  south. 
Charles  W.  Reed,  the  well-known  Boston  figure  artist,  who  served  in  Big- 
elow's  battery  and  afterwards  as  an  engineer  on  Warren's  staff,  was  asked 
by  the  Vermont  commissioners  to  make  a  drawing  suggestive  of  the  story 
alDove  set  forth.  He  approved  their  idea  of  a  lion,  and  proceeded  to  make 
an  elaborate  study  of  the  lions  of  nature  and  art.  His  drawing  hns  been 
modelled  in  clay  by  Messrs.  Beattie  and  Brooks,  who  are  at  work  this  sum- 
mer in  a  studio  at  South  Quincy.  This  morning  the  model  was  oflicially 
inspected  and  accepted,  as  well  it  may  have  been,  for  it  is  highly  creditable 
as  a  work  of  art.  It  is  unlike  any  of  tlie  great  lions  of  art  in  pose  and 
expression,  but  it  is  true  to  the  idea  it  expresses,  and  very  true  to  Nature. 
The  lions  of  Sir  Edward  Landseer,  grouped  about  the  Nelson  column  in 
Trafalgar  Square,  London,  are  couchant.  The  lion  and  lioness  of  Barye  are 
not  exactly  rampant,  but  on  the  walk.  This  lion  of  Reed's  is  half  rampant 
and  nerved  to  the  utmost,  his  head  erect  and  turned  to  the  tumult  of  battle, 
his  brawny  forearms  straightened,  and  his  body  lifted,  while  his  mane  and 
tail  and  all  the  muscles  of  his  body  stand  out  instinct  with  animation  and 
power.  The  sculptors  appear  to  have  been  very  faithful  to  the  sketch, 
which  is  greatly  to  their  credit,  and  in  making  the  technical  developement 
in  clay  they  have  shown  ability  and  the  effects  of  thorough  training,  and 
have  adapted  their  work  to  the  material  in  which  it  is  to  be  executed.  It 
might  be  ambitious,  or  at  least  premature,  to  say  that  this  lion  will  become 
recognized  as  worthy  to  take  rank  with  the  animal  sculpture  that  has  made 
a  few  men  famous,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  it  will  stand  honorably  con- 
spicuous at  Gettysburg.  The  Carrick  Brothers  of  St.  Johnsbury,  who  have 
already  executed  considerable  good  work,  will  have  the  delicate  duty  of 
faithfully  reproducing  this  model  in  stone. 


—  U  — 


LETTERS  FROM  DISTINGUISHED  MEN  ~ 

WHO  COULD  NOT  BE  PRESENT  AT  THE  DEDICATION. 

The  following  letters  were  among  those  received  by  the  Monu- 
ment Commission : 

FROM  PRESIDENT  HARRISON. 

Deer  Park,  Md.,  Sept.  26,  1889. 
Sir, — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the 
20th  inst. ,  extending  to  me  on  behalf  of  the  State  of  Vermont  an  invitation 
to  attend  on  October  9th,  the  exercises  connected  with  the  dedication  of  the 
monuments  erected  by  your  State  to  commemorate  the  valor  of  her  soldiers 
so  conspicuously  exhibited  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  The  occasion  is  one 
so  full  of  interest  that  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  accept  the  invita- 
tion so  cordially  extended,  but  my  public  engagements  will,  I  fear,  compel 
my  presence  in  Washington. 

With  great  respect,  ^ery  truly  yours. 

Benjamin  Harrison. 

Gov.  W.  P.  Dillingham, 

Waterbury,  Vt. 

FROM  VICE-PRESIDENT  MORTON, 

Rhinecliff,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  30,  1889. 

My  dear  Sir, — I  find  upon  my  return  from  Washington  your  esteemed 
favor  of  the  20th  inst.  I  regret  extremely  that  previous  engagements  render 
it  impossible  for  me  to  avail  myself  of  the  invitation  with  which  I  have  been 
honored  at  your  hands  by  the  State  of  Vermont  and  the  Commission,  to  be 
jDresent  on  tiie  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  monuments  erected  on  the 
historic  field  of  Gettysburg,  to  commemorate  the  valor  of  the  sons  in  my 
native  State  who  gave  their  lives  that  the  nation  might  live. 

The  ceremony  will  be  a  deeply  interesting  one  and  I  shall  be  with  you 
in  spirit  if  not  in  person.  With  thanks  for  tlie  cordial  terms  of  which  you 
have  been  pleased  to  convey  the  invitation,  and  renewed  regrets, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  faitlifuUy  and  truly  yours, 

Levi  P.  Morton. 

His  Excellency,  W.  P.  Dillingham, 

Governor  of  the  State  of  Vermont. 


from  president  matthew  h.  buckham. 

University  of  Vermont, 

Burlington,  Vt.,  Oct.  2,  1889. 

Dear  Sir,— Every  true  Vermonter  will  be  with  you  in  sympathy  as  you 
meet  next  Wednesday  on  the  historic  battle-ground  of  Gettysburg  "  to 
erect  monuments  to  Vermont  valor,"  as  3^our  invitation  so  happily  expresses 
your  mission  on  that  occasion.  Many  times  in  the  history  of  mankind  has 
valor  been  devoted  to  the  service  of  a  righteous  cause  on  a  great  battlefield, 
but  never  has  a  nobler  valor  been  devoted  to  a  holier  cause  than  when  on  that 
memorable  day  the  sons  of  Vermont,  in  the  cause  of  union  and  freedom, threw 
themselves  on  the  flank  of  the  rebel  army  at  Gettysburg,  Then  and  there 
the  rebellion  met  its  fate.  In  the  glory  of  that  culminating  act  of  heroic 
patriotism  the  soldiers  of  many  States  had  a  share  ;  but  none  better  deserve 
praise  and  gratitude  and  every  token  and  pledge  of  undying  remembrance 


—  15  — 


that  the  men  of  our  own  Green  Mountain  State.  If  ever  since  the  days  of 
Ethan  Allen  and  the  Revolution  it  has  been  an  honor  to  be  a  Green  3Ioun- 
tain  Boy,  much  more  is  it  an  honor  now  since  Stannard's  brigade  has  shown 
to  the  world  what  a  small  number  of  men  of  high  character,  well  com- 
manded, can  accomplish  on  a  great  battlefield.  To  commemorate  worthily 
such  deeds  of  such  men  is  a  great  and  sacred  duty.  The  names  of  the  men 
to  whom  this  duty  has  been  entrusted  is  a  guaranty  that  it  will  be  tittingiy 
performed. 

Very  respectfully . 

Matthew  H.  Buckham. 

Ebenezer  J.  Ormsbee. 

of  the  Monument  Commission. 


FROM  GEX.   ANDREW  COWAX,   OF  COAVAX's  BATTERY. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  Oct.  8. 

Hox.  E.  J.  Ormsbee  : — I  regret  that  I  am  unable  to  be  present  at  the 
dedication  of  the  monuments  to  the  Vermont  regiments  at  Gettysburg. 
My  warmest  greeting,  especially  to  the  comrades  of  the  old  Vermont 
brigade;  I  love  its  name,  and  honor  the  men  whose  devotion,  endurance 
and  heroism  made  it  glorious.  I  witnessed  the  valor  of  Stannard's  men  on 
Cemetery  Eidge.  You  have  raised  no  monument  high  enough  and  no  eulogy 
will  be  eloquent  enough  to  do  justice  to  that  splendid  achievement  of  the 
Vermont  soldiers  at  Gettysburg. 

Andrew  Cowax. 


